Tom Cruise and Ed Zwick Readying ‘Jack Reacher’ Sequel

Rejoice, Tom Cruise fans and dads everywhere! Jack Reacher, Cruise’s exceedingly satisfying adaptation of Lee Child’s popular literary hero, is getting a sequel. Deadline reports that Cruise will return for Jack Reacher 2, and in doing so will reteam with The Last Samurai director Ed Zwick and producer Marshall Herskovitz. Zwick and Herskovitz will reportedly rewrite the existing Jack Reacher 2script by Richard Wenk, and Zwick will ultimately direct the film.

Child’s Reacher, who’s appeared in 19 novels and counting (book 20 comes out in September), is a former military policeman who now wanders the country acting as a freelance do-gooder. In the first Jack Reacher film, based on the ninth book, One Shot, Reacher arrives in Pittsburgh shortly after a man with a sniper rifle murders several innocent people along the North Shore Trail. The prime suspect in the case wants Reacher’s help in clearing his name, and he provides it, teaming with the man’s defense attorney (Gone Girl’s Rosamund Pike) to uncover a deadly conspiracy. The sequel will be based on the series’ eighteenth novel, Never Go Back. Here’s the plot synopsis:

Former military cop Jack Reacher makes it all the way from snowbound South Dakota to his destination in northeastern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.: the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. The old stone building is the closest thing to a home he ever had. Reacher is there to meet — in person — the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner, so far just a warm, intriguing voice on the phone. But it isn’t Turner behind the CO’s desk. And Reacher is hit with two pieces of shocking news, one with serious criminal consequences, and one too personal even to think about.

Like a good mystery novel, Jack Reacher, which was written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie (who’s now directing Cruise in the new Mission: Impossible) was lean and entertaining. It wasn’t fancy or spectacular, but effective and efficient in a way that would surely have pleased its main character. (You can read my review of the first film here.) The role of Reacher gave Cruise the opportunity to swagger and run really fast, to act like a genius, and to beat up five guys at once. In other words, it was a great combination of star and subject, and given the vast amount of Lee Child stories to draw on, would make an ideal ongoing series. So bring on Jack Reacher 2. I’m just bummed Werner Herzog, who played the villain of the first film, won’t be back for the sequel.